The rise of Kofi Kinaata to stardom appears impromptu to many as the musician, born Martin King Arthur, started off as a rapper with the huge following from Sekondi-Takoradi and the Western Region.
In 2012, he signed for the High-Grade family where he eventually switched from doing hardcore rap to composing highlife songs with intermittent rap lines.
He eventually hit the limelight with ‘Susuka’, a highlife tune that got Ghana singing.
He has since stuck to that style and has produced other bangers such as ‘Sweetie Pie’, ‘Confession’, ‘Last Show’, ‘Time no Dey’, ‘Single & Free’ and trending now, a love song titled ‘The Whole Show’, which was recorded live.
In an interview with Mr EL on Connect FM’s mid-morning show, Adwumapamere, the rapper-cum-singer revealed what he calls the secret for his success.
“If you listen to my style – I will tell my secret today – I play the beat to suit this generation and put on it lyrics that suit and makes sense to the older generation as well or I play a highlife beat and treat a topic relevant to current trends,” he said, citing his song titled ‘Play’ as a typical example.
Aside from the above, he revealed that he does both raps and sing in order to satisfy the taste of both rap-loving and non-rap-loving audience.
“If I do only rap, my music becomes limited to only rap-loving people…that boy likes ‘Susuka’ and my other rap songs; that woman may have none of my rap songs but she is my fan. So doing both rap and singing makes me have both the youth and older generation,” he said.
He asserted that that formula explains why his fans comprise the young and old.
The ‘Fante Rap God’ made these comments to buttress his earlier assertion that highlife has evolved and may not be composed as it was done in the 20th century.